The tale may be as old as time, but some of the songs will be brand new.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly for their cover story about the upcoming live action adaptation of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, composer Alan Menken (co-songwriter of the original animated tunes and its Broadway adaptation) dishes about three new ballads for the film that he’s written with lyricist Tim Rice (he takes over Howard Ashman, who passed away shortly before the now-classic film opened in 1991).
The first song Menken discusses is “Our Song Lives On”:
- “The first time it’s sung, it’s Belle’s father singing as he’s completing a music box, and basically it’s [about], ‘How does a moment live forever? How do you hang on to precious moments?’ Then, it’s reprised by Belle, and then it’s the song that’s actually over the end credits at the end of the movie. Disney hasn’t announced it yet, but there’s going to be some wonderful singer on the end credits song.”
Then there’s “For Evermore”:
- “‘For Evermore’ is this moment where the Beast now loves Belle…He’s basically singing about how he now knows what love is…”
(Menken talks more at length about “For Evermore”, but his comments could be perceived as HEAVY SPOILERS. If you want to read them, click here for the full article.)
The third is “Days in the Sun”. Producer David Doberman believes it could land Menken his ninth Academy Award. Menken’s response?
- “Well, that’s great of him to say that,” admits Menken. “ ‘Days in the Sun’ is a moment when all of the objects in the castle —and Belle — are going to sleep. Basically, everybody in the castle is having memories of what it used to be when they had their days in the sun. It’s sort of a combination of a lullaby and a remembrance of happier days for everybody.”
Again, to read the full interview (possible spoilers, depending on how much you care about such things), click here.
Beauty and the Beast opens on March 17, 2017.